Why do some game shows go stale so fast?

[bpatrick]

Since I brought up the subject of "Deal Or No Deal"'s
steep decline so far this season, and one poster has
compared it to the free-fall that was Regis' "Who Wants
To Be A Millionaire," I want to throw out a question that
I hope will generate some debate: Why do certain shows
like "The Price Is Right" (at least up to now), "Wheel Of
Fortune," and "Jeopardy!" continue to maintain their popularity
year after year, but a "Millionaire" or "DoND" or (I'm betting)
"1 vs. 100" loses favor so quickly---and they're not even on
every day (I'm referring to Regis' version, not Meredith's, of
WWTBAM)?

Could it be that behind all the glitter are basically shallow
concepts? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

 

[genius]

Note that the last few major primetime game shows premiered under mania circumstances. Regis Who Wants to be A Millionaire had good timing and sparked a large popularity, so much that other networks rushed into mania mode as well and gave us other game shows like the Twenty-One revival back in 2000, and WWTBAM started airing on multiple nights.

But we all know the bipolar's mania will soon give way to depression. Just ask Twin Peaks about that one, and it would occur to these recent game shows as well.

 

[Braves2005]

One thing that killed Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and/or what's about to happen with Deal Or No Deal and that is having spoiler promos of what happens next like they did last night with Deal Or No Deal and showing what's going to happen Friday night. I hate spoiler promos where everybody now knows what's going to happen next show. Incidentally, the DOND website on NBC even tells you what happens next. How stupid is that?! Game shows are supposed to be surprises where everybody is supposed to be in suspense in watching someone win not giving away information about what the next game is all about and spoiling it for everyone else.

 

[radioguy555]

Well, I'm not too sure about this, but I don't think those shows that you mentioned (debuting in the '60s and '70s) hit the ground running as fast as the primetime shows today have. It really took time for them to build up a big following and become popular. It seems like "Deal or No Deal" got off to a real fast start, calmed down a bit, and is now showing signs of treading water. Plus the old shows aired/still air during daytime programming, so maybe it shows that, in general, audiences are more loyal to daytime/syndicated programming than they are to primetime programming. I can't think of any game show in the last 20-30 years that has been successful in primetime for a long period of time. Just my opinion.

 

[easttxtv]

Also, no one yet has ended up winning the $1 mil case yet. Now they're adding a $1 mil case for each night it's not given away (taking out the next lower amounts each time), which adds chances but might smack of desperation. Plus, while NBC might not be giving Deal the Millionaire overload treatment, CNBC **is**...they've rerun the crap out of the ones they've shown.

I agree about the punch-line-before-the-show-airs stuff. Soaps have been doing this in recent years too. Sometimes Soap Opera Digest has shown descriptive articles and still studio pix of big goings-on several days ahead of airing the show. And they wonder why ratings might be lower now...

 

[imhomerjay]

Shows like the prime-time Millionaire and Deal or No Deal are better as stunt shows--blitzed for a week or two, then pulled back....but no one who sees dollars in the short-term will give them up for a longer-term payout. Overexposure with multiple episodes per week is bad enough, trying to rely on the overexposed show to be your competition killer in tough slots is a double whammy (no game show pun intended). It's not unlike NBC doing a set of hour-long Office episodes to start the year--trying to milk the one thing they have going for them, whether or not it's up to the task.

FOX, of course, is doing the same thing with 5th Grader. Two shows a week for now, and the dreaded celebrity editions in sweeps month spell almost certain disaster. That's compounded by putting the second episode on Friday nights, where FOX hasn't had a pulse since they slapped X-Files there for a while.

Shows like 1 vs 100 (much better than Deal, but not given the respect) and 5th Grader can be solid, second-tier (not to mention relatively cheap, as the top prize will almost assuredly never be won) players, but that's not the TV world we're in--with 300+ choices, it's about getting the big buzz fast, riding the wave until it crashes ashore, and looking for the next big thing.

Daytime is a different animal, as Meredith's solid-for-daytime version of WWTBAM shows. It's possible that the daytime Deal could do the same thing, if they do what Millionaire did--pick up the pace. You can still have some suspense, but the over-the-top theatrics aren't missed in a 30 minute format. Heck, Millionaire didn't even need to lower the top prize the way Deal is going to, and they've had a couple of winners. Considering no one is likely to ever win the top Deal prize outside of this current "extra case each new game" model (realistically, the only way it's likely is for someone to have the remarkable good luck to have the top two cases left in play at the end, in which case $750,000 is a decent enough fall back that turning down what would probably be about a $875,000 offer would be a risk someone out there might take).

Power of 10 could be one of those shows that, if CBS doesn't kill it via a death slot and/or overexposure, could be a solid performer for them. Again, no one will likely ever risk a million for a one-in-11 shot at $10 million, though it was great that the first player took home a million.

 

[compubit]

One thing that killed Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and/or what's about to happen with Deal Or No Deal and that is having spoiler promos of what happens next like they did last night with Deal Or No Deal and showing what's going to happen Friday night.

I didn't watch it this week, but last week I had it on in the background and paid attention to the end - wanted to watch Bionic Woman

Anyway, I'm watching and the lady on screen had 3 potential million $ prizes. Cut to the promo for Friday's show, and it's talking about another player, with 4 potential million $ prizes... Guess this lady didn't win...

Jim

 

[icstephen]

I dont know about other people but we used to watch deal all the time...then they started the "this is your life" kind of crap and dragging things out...now I realize the dragging out adds to the suspence but I came to watch the game...I really dont care about Margarete from far rockaway and her ballet class, extended family or plastic cat collection. I dont know if they are still doing the this is your life stuff becouse we stopped watching at the beginning of last season but that the reason we stopped, however we really did like the game when it was new.

 

[Garrett]

Since I brought up the subject of "Deal Or No Deal"'s
steep decline so far this season, and one poster has
compared it to the free-fall that was Regis' "Who Wants
To Be A Millionaire," I want to throw out a question that
I hope will generate some debate: Why do certain shows
like "The Price Is Right" (at least up to now), "Wheel Of
Fortune," and "Jeopardy!" continue to maintain their popularity
year after year, but a "Millionaire" or "DoND" or (I'm betting)
"1 vs. 100" loses favor so quickly---and they're not even on
every day (I'm referring to Regis' version, not Meredith's, of
WWTBAM)?

Could it be that behind all the glitter are basically shallow
concepts? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

I think that show like Millionaire and Deal fade out because it was the hype or newness of the concept that made them hits. After the initial euphoria of the models and the suitcases, there's no real skill to DEAL. Millionaire was excting at first because it was "who's going to win the Million." But after that wore off, its just another trivia show and not a very good one.

Jeapoardy and Wheel on the other hand require some real skill, and are games that stay fresh because of the emphasis on the puzzles, instead of just the money, whereas with the other two, it's only about winning the money. Once someone wins the Million a couple of times, the actual contest is rather boring, with no real skill. Take Millionaire for example: Most people more or less reach the same average level, about $25,000, and can't get any higher. Its the same kind of questions over and over, and after a while, it just becomes dull when you realize that nobody's going to win. With Jeapardy, its more of a game that you can test your own skill on. There's more real challenge to it.

The Jury is still out on the Price is Right...